Does Apple Have a Fancier iPad 4 Up Its Sleeve

Scraps of evidence are appearing across the internet, so 9to5mac claims, that point towards Apple maybe, possibly, perhaps readying an update for the iPad.

9to5mac has reported that devs are finding code in the soon-to-be-released iOS 6.1 that point towards a new device, featuring 128GB of storage. Adding some fuel to that fire is a new set of SKUs, leaked by a "high-profile U.S. retailer", which point to a new "ultimate" version of the iPad.

In the past Apple has referred to its storage options as "Good," "Better," and "Best", so the use of the "Ultimate" signifier could suggest a premium iPad is waiting in the wings—potentially offering up that rumored 128GB of storage.

It's possible, then, that Apple is adding an extra model to its existing iPad range—perhaps for special customers or internal use, given its large capacity, which is expensive and doesn't fit with the growing trend of migrating to the cloud. Another possibility is that Apple is giving its whole iPad range a light spring-time spruce up—though that seems rather less likely.

The final option, of course, is that it's all speculation that amounts to nothing. We'll have to hold on and see. More here. 

This DSLR Really Is Good Enough to Eat

Valentine's is just round the corner, and what better sweet treat to get your gadget-loving partner than a full-size replica of a Canon D60 made from chocolate?

Nothing, that's what. This amazing model was made by Etsy seller Hans Chung, who has hand-crafted a mold in the shape of a D60 so that he can make solid chocolate versions of the camera. It's intricately detailed; an amazing likeness. So far he's made three of the things for friends and family—one has already been eaten—but he plans to make a further five and sell them as a limited-edition run.

The limited edition chocolate cameras will be maufactured in the buyer's choice of chocolate from the Guittard Chocolate Company product line, and come presented in an acrylic display case. They'll also be chilled while they travel by FedEx—or if you live in San Francisco, you can pick one up in person.

The only downside: the chocolate cameras will cost a cool $500 each. For which you could actually buy quite a nice real camera. More here.

You Can Run Android 4.0 in Its Entirety Right on Your PC

Running certain Android apps on your desktop is nothing new with Bluestacks, but now you can get the whole dang OS running on your PC as a native application thanks to a little program called WindowsAndroid.

Developed by a start-up in Bejing called SocketeQ, WindowsAndroid not only lets you mess with Android apps on your computer, but emulate an entire 4.0 ICS device on there, complete with all the settings and everything else. It's available for download from SocketeQ's site, if you'll give them your email address and—as you should be able to guess—it runs on Windows Vista, 7, and 8 exclusively.

WindowsAndroid will also make good use of the computer it's running on. It supports big resolutions, cranks up performance using your PC's guts, and can make use of your mouse and keyboard in addition to a touchscreen monitor if you have one. You can also side-load apps by dropping the .apks in the right folder. But for the moment, that's the only reliable way to get fun stuff on it, because Google Play doesn't recognize the hardware. More here.

This Tiny Pet Quadcopter Could Be Your Own Personal Cameraman

Who doesn't want to be the star of their own reality TV show? Well OK, sane people. But if you count yourself among the former, there's good news for you. A new, tiny quadcopter called the MeCam is just begging to be your ever-present cameraman. And you best take it up on the offer, there's no way you could find a human that willing.

MeCam is an upcoming product from the San Francisco-based company Always Innovating, and it promises to change self-centered video documentation forever, potentially. The copter would have a battery of 14 sensors to keep it from running into walls and other people, and would be voice controlled. You could shout at it to go "up" or "down" or just tell it to follow you like a flying, robotic member of the paparazzi (or a flying puppy), and call it a day. During its acrobatics, it'd be recording you, of course, and you could beam that footage to your smartphone and have it stream there, or shunt it over to YouTube or Facebook if that's your cup of tea.

There's no word on what kind of camera the MeCam would have, but that's probably because Always Innovating doesn't plan to build them itself, but rather to license out the technology to others. Still, when all is said and done, AI expects that the little guys could be as cheap as $49, which is frankly a steal for a pet quadcopter that doesn't constantly film you. The video is almost just a bonus. It's a little way off, but AI predicts the first licensed copters could hit shelves in 2014. Does it sound a little to good to be true, especially at that price-point? Sure. But here's to hoping. Who wouldn't want a pet quady, right? More here.

Researchers Will Restore Damaged Depth Perception with Electronic Eyes

Our depth perception doesn't work without two eyes. However an estimated 285 million people worldwide suffer from some form of visual impairment in at least one theirs. The loss of sight in just one eye also means the loss of one's ability to accurately judge short distances. However, a team of researchers have devised an ingenious solution to restore binocular vision.

With natural binocular vision, our eyes view objects at slightly varying angles from one another to produce a pair of distinct perspectives which our brains then interpret as a single 3-D image. The Mono-glass system, developed by a team from the University of Yamanashi, replicates this process using commercially available components as stand-ins for the non-functional fleshy bits.

The current design iteration of Mono-glass relies on Wrap 920AR augmented reality glasses, normally used for working in Autodesk 3ds Max, to act as artificial eyes, generating images with a pair of integrated cameras. The team's custom software then processes this information to calculate the relative distance of each item in the field of view and synthesize the data into a single image. This image is then displayed in the patient's good eye with close objects appearing in focus while progressively distant items grow increasingly blurry, like the one below. More here.

A Wearable Sleeping Bag That You Might Actually Wear

This wearable sleeping bag isn't the first time someone's designed bedding you can stay in all day long—that honor probably goes to Selk. But it is the first sleeping bag you can wear that doesn't make you look like you're wrapped in a ridiculous puffy spacesuit.

At night, Doppleganger Outdoors' wearable sleeping bag entombs you in a cocoon of fiber filled polyester, keeping the cold out with sealable sleeves and a bag that wraps around your legs and feet. But the bottom half of the $130 sleeping bag can actually be removed in sections, turning it into a long winter coat, or a shorter jacket when you need the freedom to move around. Not only is it a more comfortable approach, but you can also roll up and compress the bottom section so it's small enough to stash in a pocket, helping keep your camping kit as minimal as possible. More here.

An All-Wool Beanie Makes Single-Digit Temps Almost Bearable

It's so cold you have to duck when you walk down the street to block the wind from freezing your face. Oh wait, then your head's iced over. You know what'll keep it warm? This all merino wool knit cap from Best Made.

This cozy hat gets its cred from tests on the frigid streets of New York City and snowy mountains of St. Elias National Park in Alaska. Both cold places, both places where you're screwed without a some head protection. A hat makes you instantly warmer. When you're comfortable and toasty, nine degrees with a wind chill isn't as bad. More here.

You Can Squeeze 2.2 Petabytes of Data Into One Gram of DNA

Scientists from the European Bioinformatics Institute are squeezing unparalleled amounts of data in to synthetic DNA, and now they've achieved something absolutely amazing: they can store 2.2 petabytes of information in a single gram of DNA, and recover it with 100 percent accuracy.

The researchers have encoded an MP3 of Martin Luther King's 1963 "I have a dream" speech, along with all 154 of Shakespeare's sonnets, into a string of DNA. Scaled up, that represents a storage density of 2.2 petabytes per gram. What's amazing, though, is that they've managed to achieve that whilst also implementing error correction in the complex chains of molecules, allowing them to retrieve content with 100 per cent accuracy.

The technique uses the four bases of DNA—A, T, C and G—to achieve the high information density. It is, understandably, still incredibly expensive: creating synthetic DNA and then sequencing it to read off the data is getting far easier, but it's still a time- and cash-consuming business. Keep hold of your hard drives for now, but DNA could represent a viable storage solution in the future. More here.

Would You Wear These Crazy Shoes?

These sneakers are, according to Reebok, the "the first all-terrain athletic shoe". They're supposed to echo the utility of an all-terrain vehicle, and take mud, snow, grass, and sand in their stride. But let's not ignore the fact that they look completely and utterly weird.

In many ways they have all the trappings of a normal sneaker: padded tongue, supportive collar for ankle protection, nicely breathable upper and... oh my God look at those lugged soles.

These things seem to be designed to make the wearer look like a clown. Or a space explorer. Perhaps even an alien. They were certainly not designed to make you look normal. More here.

It’s Impossible To Wake Up Grumpy With This Sunny Silicone Egg Mold

No matter how bad your morning is going, this adorable $12 Sunnyside egg mold is sure to brighten your day—unless you're some kind of monster. Its clever design traps and holds an egg's yolk so it cooks in the shape of the sun, while the egg whites are free to flow and solidify into the shape of a fluffy cloud.

Just add some bacon seagulls, and maybe some hash brown mountains, and you've got yourself a picture perfect breakfast. More here.

Nobody Would See You Coming on This Beautiful Transparent Bike

From certain angles you can barely see this beautiful bicycle—because it's made from the same strong, lighthtweight and transparent plastic used in fighter jet canopies. It's the perfect stealth bike.

A concept put together by Designaffairs, this bicycle—aptly called Clarity Bike—is built from a polymer called Trivex. First used in helicopter windscreens and then in fighter jet canopies, the material is incredibly light but can withstand major shocks. It's also resistant to extremes of heat and cold, and can be injection moulded—so it would be perfect for making a bicycle.Designaffairs explain:

We believe that the Clarity Bike could be a giant leap forward in bicycle frame engineering and production. The design takes advantage of an advanced polymer which combines high impact resistance, lightweight properties and a gentle flexibility that usually would only be expected on an old Italian steel frame.

If this thing could be made affordably, they could sell an absolute ton—and I, for one, would be at the front of the queue. More here.

The Mathematically Most Efficient Way to Sort Socks

Computer scientists around the world have been stumped by a vexing mathematical problem for ages: How does one go about sorting a large pile of socks when said socks are different? How does one model the plane of possibilities? The solution has arrived, and it's much simpler than you think.

Mr. Kottke reports the findings of his own personal study, which it turns out is simpler than anything science has otherwise come up with. More here.

1) Throw all your socks out.

2) Go to Uniqlo and buy 15 identical pairs of black socks.

3) When you want to wear socks, pick any two out of the drawer.

4) When you notice your socks are wearing out, goto step 1.

Suction Cup Viewfinder Makes Your iPhone Slightly More DSLR-Like

If you're a professional photographer who's reluctantly embraced the iPhone as an occasional alternative to your DSLR, you're gonna love Photojojo's latest smartphone accessory. It's a suction cup viewfinder that sticks your iPhone's display letting you block out all the distractions around you and frame your shots the same way you would with your full-sized camera.

For $30 it includes a complementary app that generates a smaller preview window on the iPhone's display that the viewfinder is designed to cover, as well as an easy on-screen guide so you know exactly where to position it. It even works with iPads, as long as you're willing to deal with everyone around you shaking their head in disbelief while you hold your giant tablet up against your face. More here.

Who Cares If They’re Probably Impractical? These Wooden Knives Are Stunning

There's probably a good reason the master knife makers of the world traditionally choose steel and other metals for their blades, instead of maple. But even if these wooden knives, designed by The Federal, aren't as durable or lack the heft of a traditional blade, they'd still make a gorgeous addition to any kitchen, particularly one sporting a butcher block counter.

So that the knives are safe to use on foods, easy to clean, and won't become visible histories of the meals you've prepared through stains, the wood is sealed . And the thin steel edge that serves as the blade is actually about twice as wide as it appears, with the opposing side invisibly sliding into the wooden part of the blade where it's secured with flush-mounted rivets. More here.

A 3D-Printed Hamburger Would Cost You $300,000

Making fake meat in a lab sure isn't easy, but 3D printing promises to revolutionize the process. The only downside: a 3D-printed hamburger will set you back $300,000.

Growing meat in the lab is a long-studied avenue of research. But now 3D printing could make the process quicker. The BBC explains:

Instead of traditional ink or a material like plastic, the 3D printer cartridge contains something called bioink made of hundreds of thousands of live cells. Once printed in the desired shape, the bioink particles naturally fuse to form living tissue. This process of bioprinting biomaterials is similar to attempts to print artificial organs for transplants - but the result could well end up in your frying pan.

The real benefit is related to the shape of the meat we eat, though: burgers, steaks and plenty of other cuts have lateral dimensions that are much bigger than their thickness. That makes them perfect candidates for 3D printing, which could theoretically speed up the process of making lab-grown meat. But just like the devices used for prototyping products using plastics, bio-printing is still in its infancy—and so incredibly expensive.

So while there's certainly promise—after all, a Dutch team has already showcased a small piece of 3D-printed artificial meat which was 2cm long, 1cm wide and about 1mm thick—current estimates suggest a whole hamburger created in this way would cost $300,000. Not quite competing with McDonald's yet, then. More here.

Google’s Making Moves to Kill the Password

Passwords are long and complicated and hard to remember. And that's only if they're good passwords. No matter how you slice it, passwords are annoying and on top of that, they're not even all that secure. Google knows that all too well, and it's pushing for the next big thing. A ring maybe. Like for your finger.

Google's been getting behind two-step verification for a while, and although that's more secure than a standard password, it's also more annoying. Hardly a perfect solution. In a paper to be published later this month in IEEE Security & Privacy Magazine, Google's President of Security Eric Grosse and Engineer Mayank Upadhyay are pitching alternatives like cryptographic card for your USB, or some kind of (presumably NFC) ring.

Google's got some software in the making that'd allow this kind of stuff to log you into a browser without involving any sort of software in the middle, just you and your browser. But even in the best possible future, it won't kill passwords completely. So long as your little key can be separated from you, you'll have to have a PIN or something, and the more conveniently short the PIN, the more important it is you don't loose that key. Still, it beats straight passwords and two-step verification annoyances. And the sooner the password can finally be laid to rest, the better. More here.

Kim Dotcom’s Mega Is Now Open To the Public

Mega, Kim Dotcom's big, flashy new copyright-dismantling file-sharing/storage site with encryption up the wazoo has finally launched. You can head on over and sign up right now. That is, so long as the site can hold under the crazy traffic. So far, it looks like it's getting crushed. But different people are experiencing different things.

Angled Lens Case Turns Your Smartphone Into a GoPro

G-Form's made a name for itself with extreme phone and tablet cases that can protect a gadget during falls from over 100,000 feet. But since rarely are any of us in a situation where we fumble and drop our toys from space, the company's new G90 case that turns your phone into a GoPro-like action cam is a little more exciting.

The case is of course completely waterproof, and designed to protect your device against falls, collisions, and other run-ins with gravity. But it's biggest innovation is a 90-degree angled lens and mirror that makes it easier to mount your protected phone length-wise. It's a more aerodynamic approach, and the larger lens also expands your smartphone camera's view to a full 140 degrees, depending on its own lens.

Expected to drop—safely—in June, the G90 will actually be available for a wide variety of devices including the iPhone 5, the Samsung Galaxy S4 (oh really?), and even the latest iPod Touch. More here.

Ticking Teeth Skull Watch Walks the Line Between Clever and Morbid

Skull-based accessories are usually only popular with a certain demographic who've embraced the morbid side of life. But damned if this Last Laugh watch from Mr. Jones hasn't crossed the border into mainstream territories with a clever mechanism that shows the hour and minutes on the skull's teeth.

Powered by an automatic mechanical movement that basically means just wearing the watch keeps it wound, the Last Laugh is a little pricey at $260 for what is essentially a clever sight gag. More here.

A 3D Printer That Actually Looks Like it Belongs in Your Home

Cubify's colorful 3D printers look like coffee makers, and that's exactly the point—they're a natural fit for your home. And they might be just the ticket to making this 3D printing thing stick with normal people.

The Cube is kind of the opposite of Makerbot's at-home 3D printer, the Replicator, which is a big bulky 32-pound industrial beast. The Cube, on the other hand, is a 19-pound, adorable sewing machine-sized apparatus, and it's totally something that fits right in with your other appliances. To top it off, it's $1400, compared to the Replicator's $1750 starting point. For $50 more you get Cubify's design software to make the printable creations of your dreams. (Real talk: They should include the software for free.)

As a company, Cubify might actually have the right understanding—its founder, Chuck Hull, was actually the first person to patent a 3D printer all the way back in 1983. Though it took him a good 30 years to have a product on the market, the Cube looks really promising. More here.